Blog

Blog

Musings on personal finance and more. Not written with AI since 2012.

Prius toy car

Why buying my car wasn’t (totally) a good financial decision

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I own a 2004 Toyota Prius. It’s not a flashy car, at least it isn’t these days. It’s two models behind the current Prius, for one, and the Prius brand isn’t as flashy as, say, Tesla, these days. But I’m … Read More … Read More

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Road atlas

Why it’s okay to make a bad financial decision (sometimes)

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I was pretty hard recently on people leasing cars. That’s because I feel very strongly about how it’s a decision that can have a significant negative financial effect on one’s life. And not only that, but the implications of and … Read More … Read More

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Chair shadows

Why not refinance your student loans with SoFi?

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Congratulations! Student loan debt in the U.S. has reached $1.5 trillion as of 2018. That’s a staggering sum, equivalent to $4,600 for every member of the population, including babies. If you exclude babies (and we will, but we shouldn’t let … Read More … Read More

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Altar

Do you really want to pay your student loans off, or just pay less?

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Everyone wants to pay off their student loans. I had loans for the 10 years after I graduated college, and I hated them every step of the way. But people seem to handle their student loans in a confused and … Read More … Read More

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Shark

Why not lease a car and then buy it?

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If it wasn’t obvious, my post on reasons to lease a car wasn’t really in support of leasing a car, as I think that’s one of more financially foolish moves one can make, even worse than buying a new car. After … Read More … Read More

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Sheep

Here are 4 reasons to lease a car

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So your car is dying, and you have decided that you need a new one. You’ve looked at buying used, you’ve looked at buying new, and then you’ve also thought of leasing. Is leasing right for you? … Read More

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Red and purple

When savings rates change, is it time to switch banks?

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So we all now know to not keep our savings in a big bank, or other entity that clearly doesn’t care about keeping your business. But what if you’ve already done this? What if you have your savings accounts in … Read More … Read More

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Frankfurt skyline

Why you don’t want a savings account at a big bank

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I talk about investments a lot, but there there’s a lot more to saving money than investing. Investments are “illiquid”, meaning you can’t just get at the money if you decide you want it. There are tax and penalty consequences … Read More … Read More

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Rainbow flag

This is the real definition of insanity

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There are some phrases that get thrown about often, without actually thinking about what they mean, and whether they’re even correct or not. Some are perfectly innocuous. No one stops to think about what exactly we’re saying “bless you” about … Read More … Read More

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Wine glass pour

If you won’t keep a budget, here are other things you can do

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I believe that keeping a daily log of your purchases is the single most effective action you can take today to change your financial situation. Just knowing what it is that you are currently doing can help you be more … Read More … Read More

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